He didn’t and the shake of his head confirmed it.
It took another twenty minutes to reach the village and they almost missed it. Whatever buildings had been there disappeared beneath overgrown flora and nature’s destruction and debris a long time ago, though some skeletal remains poked up from the ground here and there.
“Doesn’t look like there’s been much here for quite some time,” Jorden said then started to poke around the first ruin they came across. “I wonder why the caretaker didn’t want anyone to come down here.”
Matt shrugged. “Who knows? With our luck Jonas’s partners had devices planted down here and the warning to stay away was just a ploy to get us to come down here and find some other evidence of a bogus haunting.”
Jorden could hear the disappointment and cynicism in his voice. “You know that not everything we’ve found here is a proxy,” she tried to comfort.
“And with the majority of it destroyed it doesn’t matter,” Matt said. “And the minute people find out that there were audio devices planted here to mimic EVPs our reputation will be trashed.”
Jorden shrugged. “I don’t see why, especially if we reveal the attempted subterfuge ourselves first. Plus we have Jonas to back us up.”
Matt snorted an acerbic laugh. “You really think that for all of his blustering and criticism he’ll actually speak out against his partners in a public forum?”
“Stranger things have hap-”
Matt looked up at her and approached her when her words abruptly cut off. “You getting another feeling?” he questioned, more curious than mocking now.
“What? You actually believe now that I’m getting feelings about certain entities on this island?” she questioned.
“I never said I didn’t,” he said as he stepped up to her. “It’s just hard to believe that you of all people would be psychic in any measure of the word.”
Jorden didn’t even try to hide her affronted expression. “And just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?” she questioned angrily.
Matt’s gaze was soft but frustrated. “I didn’t mean it that way…” he thought a moment, “…I didn’t mean it in any particular way and I certainly didn’t mean it as an insult. It’s just that in all the time we’ve known each other I’ve never noticed and you’ve never mentioned even the slightest inkling of a psychic ability. Now suddenly here we are and you’re a sounding board for the dead.” He gave her a shrug and a sincere, apologetic smile. “It’s just a little too much to take in at once.”
“Well I’m sorry I had to ruin your vacation with a little thing like the ability to see, feel and hear the dead,” she sniped then moved on to the next foundation.
Matt caught her arm and pulled her back to him. “Damn it Jorden does everything between us have to end in an argument? Or is all you anger directed at me because I told you that I love you?” he questioned.
Jorden didn’t like the implication, but more than that, she didn’t like that he was right. She hadn’t been this argumentative before he told her that he loved her and she knew that she was scared; not of the island, though that did have her on edge, but she was scared to love him back.
Jorden didn’t have a chance to answer. Instead her attentions were diverted towards what appeared to be a stone oven and several askew bricks at its base. “What’s that?” she asked.
“You know I’m getting tired of you changing the subject on me whenever the discussion gets personal,” Matt grumbled.
Jorden flashed him a sideways glance before she pulled her arm free and headed for the oven.
Matt followed, ready to argue no doubt, but before he could say anything Jorden pulled away several crooked bricks and retrieved a metal box from the ruins of the oven. “How did you see that all the way over there?” he questioned.
Jorden couldn’t stop the short laugh that escaped her lips. “Don’t get your boxers in a bunch – it wasn’t a psychic vision or anything like that. I saw the crooked bricks. They didn’t look right so I thought that I’d take a look.”
Matt opened the box to find just a couple of dusty remnants of what appeared to be paper. Carefully he poked around them until he could find one intact and with writing on it. Unfortunately, though not unexpected, the writing was in another language, probably Italian. “Syd will have to take a look at these when we get back,” he said then closed the lid of the box.
Jorden agreed with a nod then moved onto the next set of ruins followed by the next and the next after that until just more than an hour had passed and they found nothing else.
“We should probably be heading back to the cottage,” Jorden said as she stepped forward, however before she could get too far she tripped over a well hidden, large, flat stone.
“What is it?” Matt asked as she knelt down and started to dust it off.
What lay beneath the vines, leaves, sticks and dirt was something that Jorden wished she hadn’t uncovered. Of course after all the time that had passed and damage that had been done to the rock from the weather, there was no way of telling for certain just what the stains on the rock were, but somehow she knew. Something in her soul told her exactly what the stains were and what the rock was used for and she bolted to her feet and away from the stone as fast as she could.
“We need to leave now,” she said as she stumbled through the ruins of the village and back the way they’d come.
Matt hurried to her side with the box in hand. “What is it?” he asked. “I know that you don’t want to believe in whatever abilities you have, but you do have them and you saw something or felt something back there. What was it?”
His statement hit her like a slap in the face. Of all the people to say that she didn’t want to believe in her abilities was the one person on the island who believed least of all. But at the same time he was right. Since the first time she saw Eric she wanted to deny what was there, though it irked her to no end that it had to be one of the biggest skeptics on the planet to make her realize it.
“What was it?” Matt questioned with more urgency.
“A sacrificial stone,” she muttered.
Matt’s gaze was that of both disgust and awe. “Are you sure?”
She gave him a shaky nod. “Oh yeah,” she confirmed as she changed direction and headed for the shore.
“Where are you going?” Matt asked as he followed.
“I can’t go back by the cemetery, not right now,” she said, though didn’t care to explain. “You can go back that way if you want, but I think that I’m going to take the scenic route. Who knows, maybe we’ll find Nigel waiting for the next boat off this godforsaken island.”
Matt didn’t think so; she could tell that much by the look in his eyes, but he followed her down to the shore anyway.
The sun had already started its slow plunge into the waters to the west and the air was fresh, if not a little thick as the fog started to roll in from a near distance, and the air quickly grew chilly. At least Jorden didn’t feel the need to run and she took her time as she walked along the narrow path about ten feet above the rocky shore below.
Matt slid his arm around her back and held her close as the temperature plummeted along with the sun into a foggy ocean.
So much had happened in the last couple of weeks that Jorden never thought was possible, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it – and with Nigel missing she didn’t want to think about it now, yet thoughts of Matt consumed nearly every thought.
“Why won’t you talk to me about us?” Matt asked out of the blue.
Jorden smiled slightly thought it didn’t last. “Now who’s the psychic?” she asked quietly.
Matt stopped and turned her to face him. “We need to talk about this now, before we go back there and face whatever it is we have to face,” he said firmly. “It won’t do us or Nigel any good if we let unresolved issues cloud our thoughts and judgments. As it is we’re biting each other’s heads off when we aren’t avoiding each other altogether.”
She nodde
d. With all that had gone on between them over the last couple of days she knew that it was far more dangerous to let what was between them to go unresolved, but it was so hard to think it let alone say it, she wasn’t sure that she could do it. “I know, but it’s so hard,” she said so quietly it was almost a whisper. “I’ve been alone for so long…afraid to trust anyone enough to really love them.” She looked up into his eyes. She didn’t know if she could say it but she knew she needed to. “And I do love you,” she managed in a choked whisper as her heart raced. “But neither one of us can allow our feelings take hold right now. We need to think of Nigel and how we’re going to get him back.”
Matt pushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen loose back in the village and gently held her cheek against the palm of his hand. “Just tell me again,” he said as he rested his forehead on hers.
“I love you Matt Connelly,” she said.
With those words he kissed her so passionately that she wanted to fall to her knees and weep but he kept her up and tight against his own body.
Jorden didn’t know how long the kiss lasted, though when their lips finally parted the sky was significantly darker and the fog was creeping up the hill just below them. “We need to get back to the cottage before it gets so dark and foggy we can’t find our way back.”
“And be doomed to spend the night out here alone and together?” Matt questioned with an impish grin. “Give me a minute to find something wrong with that.”
Jorden smiled but couldn’t hold it. “There’ll be time for that later, but right now we need to get back to the cottage and talk to Syd. With any luck whatever is on these papers can help us find out just what in the hell is going on.”
Matt looked deep into her eyes and kissed her again, though sadly it didn’t last quite as long and she ached to feel him close to her for the rest of her life. Instead they regretfully headed along the narrow path until they reached the familiar dock then followed the path up to the cottage where they were the last to arrive.
“Where’s Syd?” Matt asked as he passed through the front door. “We have something we need him to take a look at.”
A nervous look was exchanged amongst everyone inside and Jorden’s blood ran cold. “Where is he?”
“He headed to the mainland to find someone who might be able to help,” Ana explained.
That didn’t seem so bad and even Matt didn’t get upset, but there was a heavy tension in the room that didn’t explain the faces of the others.
“Where is he?” Jorden questioned again, and it was then that it became obvious that she wasn’t talking about Syd.
As if on cue someone stepped out of the living room.
Jorden gasped. “Nigel.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The cab led him away from the pier but not in the direction of Naples or any other nearby town and Syd was confused. He was fluent in Italian and he knew what directions he gave the driver, however now the driver seemed to hear nothing and Syd was along for the unwelcome and untimely ride to nowhere. To make matters worse, the sun was setting and it would be dark soon, and the likelihood that he would find his way back to the island in time to be of any help to anyone was quickly becoming doubtful.
The car jarred as it turned off the main highway and headed down a dark, dirt road. In the moonlight Syd could see dense woods around him, though he had no idea how far they reached and if there was anything on the other side of the trees, though he imagined he would learn soon enough.
Syd didn’t know how long the drive took, only that it had been a while; he’d looked down at his watch several times but could see nothing in the dark. For the first time in his life he cursed himself for insisting on an old fashioned watch; one without an illuminated dial.
When the car finally came to a crunching stop on the dirt and gravel road the driver said nothing.
“If you think that I’m getting out of this car in the middle of nowhere and in the dark of night you are sadly mistaken,” he said in fluent Italian.
Still the driver said nothing however the car itself was not so generous. The door beside Syd opened and forces that Syd could neither see nor feel pulled him from the car and nearly hurled him to the ground. It was a good thing that Syd was in as good a shape as he was otherwise he would have landed on his butt and would have had a difficult time getting up.
Syd stood and stared in astonishment as the car’s taillights disappeared down the dirt road, all the while kicking up dust behind him.
Whatever joke was being played at his expense was not amusing, however he had no time to waste. He had to get back to civilization, so after dusting himself off, he started down the road after the quickly fading taillights.
“Questa direzione,” he heard whispered on the wind. The voice beckoned him to follow in the opposite direction.
Syd wasn’t sure he heard right, and for a moment thought that he might be hearing things until he took another step down the road and he heard the voice again. It was still little more than a whisper but this time it carried more force and he knew that he had to follow.
A rustling in the brush ahead of him led him down a narrow path however he could see no form that could cause the disturbance and his heart raced with the possibilities. Too much had happened in the last couple of weeks for him to simply dismiss this as paranoia or simply seeing and hearing things that were not there. This had to have something to do with the island and with Nigel, he knew it.
The narrow path widened out into a clearing that was surprisingly close to shore and even more surprising, it held a small, dark ghost town. Nigel and Jonas’s town he supposed.
“Venire, venire,” the voice beckoned from somewhere down the road.
Syd followed the whispers down the road to a pub where the doors swung back and forth as if someone had just entered. Syd followed still.
Inside the pub, in a dark corner lit only by a fading flicker of a soot-smudged candle was an old woman; the same old woman Nigel and Jonas had spoken to days before he presumed.
“Buono sera,” she said from her rickety chair.
“Buono sera,” Syd said. “Perche` lei mi ha portano qui?”
The woman gave a husky snicker over her bottle of wine. “I have brought you here,” she said in her scratchy voice and continuing only in Italian, “because you and your friends are in danger of losing your souls to damnation.”
Syd now knew for certain that this was the woman Nigel and Jonas had spoken to days earlier and he leaned in closer to her. “Tell me,” he said in Italian to be sure that she didn’t misunderstand. “Tell me who has possessed my friend.”
The woman’s face grew hard and cold. “Ankou. He is the reaper of death. And on tomorrow night’s blood moon, he will take all of the anguished and tormented souls on that island to hell with him.”
Syd had heard very little of Ankou – demonology was not his strong suit – but from what he could recall the stories of the beast varied though what they all had in common was that the souls it collected were delivered to the lord of the underworld where they were damned for eternity. Of course the stories were just those…stories. No one knew for certain what Ankou really did or if the demon was real or myth. Because he knew that something had a grip on Nigel, Syd chose to believe that the demon’s existence was real, and if that was the case, then he knew that they were in danger, and while he had no idea from what, he knew in his heart that none of them would survive unless they acted now.
“Can you help us?” Syd asked, almost pled in fact.
The woman looked up at him with empty eyes and shook her head. “I can only warn you.”
“You know who is possessing Nigel. You must help cast the demon out.”
The woman chuckled. “I am not an exorcist.”
Syd looked at her carefully. “But you are dead,” he said. “And you are hiding here…hiding from it.”
The woman’s kind face shattered into shock and anger. “You know nothing.”
“I know that
exorcisms are a matter of faith. We don’t need a priest to cast the demon from Nigel and we don’t have the time to find one willing to do an exorcism on such short notice, not when they take weeks, sometimes months of investigating to determine whether one is warranted in the first place. We need to cast the demon out now, before it’s too late.”
The woman still had fire in her old, silver eyes and she shook her head. “I am sorry. I cannot help you.”
The anger in Syd went beyond anything he had ever felt before in his life and he pushed to his feet. “Very well then, before it kills us all, I’ll make sure that it knows where to find you,” Syd threatened and started to walk away.
“No!” the woman exclaimed loudly as she jumped to her feet. “You mustn’t.”
Syd turned on his heels and faced her with a burning fire of his own in his soul. “And why is that?” Syd questioned. “You’ve been dead for decades at least. It’s time that you moved on…wouldn’t you agree?”
“I was just a child when they burned the village to the ground along with everyone in it. I wasn’t even there. I could do nothing to stop them and I do not deserve an eternity in hell for what my parents, my grandparents and the rest of the village did.”
It was starting to come together now. It wasn’t about ferrying souls to the underworld…it was about revenge and redemption. Syd turned back to the door and started out.
“You would damn me only to save your friend?” the woman croaked.
Syd turned again and faced the old woman. “You damned yourself. But if you’re asking me if I would deliver you to your fate to save my friend, then the answer is yes.” He stepped further into the pub and up to the old woman where he took a long look at her. “Why do you hide here?” he asked.
Her gaze, in spite of her kind features, was hard and for the first time since he’d met her he could see just how dead her silver eyes were.
A thin smile creased Syd’s lips. “This was never your home…was it?”
“It was my home,” she hissed. “It took an eternity to get off the island and I found that once I did, I could go no further.” Her eyes grew dark as she looked to the floor. “I was there when they came with their torches. They didn’t understand that we were given no choice, Father Lorenzo said that if we did not make the sacrifices the entire village would burn in hell for eternity,” she explained. “We had no idea what he was and back then, with all that was happening in the world, we believed in his guidance and that he would lead us to salvation.
The Haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo Page 28
